TRENTON — A Jones Senior junior starting on both sides of the ball is ready to step up like it’s his last season.

Glen White Jr. has been part of the Trojans’ varsity squad since his freshman year and said it’s going to take hard work and leadership to win games and possibly return to a championship stage.

He said the Trojans has plenty of both.

“It was fun, but we lost,” White said about Jones Senior’s NCHSAA 1A championship game run in 2011. They fell 21-6 to Murphy in the title game in Raleigh.

“When we went to state, I was up there; I started on defense,” he said. “I decided I was going to step up this year.”

He said the team’s overall goal is to “try and get back this year.”

White will start on both sides of the ball as quarterback and linebacker this season. He started playing football in New York before relocating to Trenton in the sixth grade. The three-sport participant said athletics kept him out of trouble growing up; he also plays basketball and runs track.

But football is his favorite.

“I just like it better than any other sport,” White said. “It’s physical and you can take your anger out.”

Around Jones Senior, he said one of the few activities include playing sports.

Jones Senior opens its season Friday against Kinston, which won the 2A East Regional Championship in 2011. The Trojans’ loaded schedule features several other teams with championship experience, including defending 3A champion Havelock, defending 1AA champion Southwest Onslow and Wallace-Rose Hill.

The Coastal Plains 1A, Jones Senior’s conference, added two new teams this season in Pinetown Northside and Chocowinity Southside.

“We still play Southwest Onslow,” White said about the additions, “and Pamlico is still going to be a big rivalry.”

Although White has another year remaining under his belt, he said will push everyone else to work this season.

“(I’m going to) go at it like it’s my last one,” he said. “Take it one game at a time and just go out there and try to win and work hard.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.